£900k road repair grant still leaves a big hole

Hertfordshire’s pothole-plagued roads have been handed a six-figure sum by the government – but critics say the money is not nearly enough.

The £943,000 grant was dished out to Herts County Council from the government’s Pothole Action Fund.

In total, £7.2million has been handed out to 11 councils across the UK.

But some councillors claim that the cash will barely scratch the surface of repairing our 18,000 potholes.

Over £30million has been spent on road maintenance and repairs over the last 12 months.

Lib​ ​Dem group leader Stephen Giles-Medhurst said: ​“While it is good to get any extra money from the ​government​​ this is a ​drop of water in a big ocean of money need​ed ​to repair our roads​ – not least after the government cut the county council’s budget by £23million more than had been expected.

“£943,000 is nowhere ​near ​enough to fix the problems we have which is not​ ​made any better by botched repairs on occasions by the county’s​ ​contractors​.”

Rob Smith, deputy director of environment at the county council, was equivocal about the money.

He said: “While we welcome these additional funds as a step in the right direction, it would have been helpful if traffic levels had been taken in to account in allocating the funding.

“Hertfordshire’s 3,000 miles of roads are among the busiest in the country, with over five billion vehicle miles travelled every year and this inevitably results in potholes and defects.”

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